Soldier dies from Fort Irwin training exercise

FORT IRWIN • A 26-year-old soldier injured in a training exercise at the National Training Center died last week, a U.S. Army spokesman confirmed Thursday.

Spc. Robert Sonnenburg III was on rotation at Fort Irwin with the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team 1st Infantry Division and was the only person involved in the incident on Feb. 20.

He was evacuated to Las Vegas University Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries two days later on Feb. 22, according to the official. Details regarding the incident are still under investigation and his exact injuries could not be released due to medical privacy laws.

Sonnenburg joined the U.S. Army in Turner, Ore., in January 2010 and deployed in November 2010 for a year to Iraq, according to the official. He was a 19 Delta Cavalry Scout who had been stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., and was on rotation at the National Training Center.

The incident occurred just six days after six soldiers were involved in a separate incident in a training area at the National Training Center.

In that incident, the soldiers were assisting in the movement of equipment for an incoming Army unit, according to a news release. Three of the soldiers were transported by air ambulance with non-life threatening injuries, while three others were treated at Fort Irwin for minor injuries.